Preliminary assessment of CBD (cannabidiol)/hemp as medicine

Ok, this might be a little vague and/or hacked up, but I decided to try CBD products and see if it could assist some of my symptoms.  I initially tried it for anxiety, but experienced little relief and abandoned it.  Possible reasons for that failure: 1) sub-therapeutic dosing 2) ineffective product 3) other.  When I first tried it, I followed directions indicated on that product and it could have fallen below the therapeutic range effective for CBD to treat anxiety.  The product itself might have lacked potency or had a poor formulation rendering the CBD difficult to absorb (research indicated that the FDA tested and determined the product to contain .3% CBD which suggests that it contained an adequate amount serving).  The other issues involved that sparked my curiosity was the fact that I might have been consuming something to make it less effective (ie. supplement, medicine, food, etc) or that the product I initially tried lacked synergistic agents (triterpenes and the like) causing loss of CBD's potential that is seen with the other chemicals found in hemp.

Cannabidiol has various properties and likely others that are not yet known.  It is a CB1 antagonist, thus counteracting THC's (agonist) effect, but strangely enough increases THC serum levels suggesting that it could lengthen the effect of the THC + CBD combo (I have not found documentation to validate that CBD would indeed lengthen the high obtained from smoking THC containing marijuana while consuming CBD).  CBD also has NMDA modulating potential- exact mode of action not specified.  It can reduce pain, inflammation, oxidative stress, and inhibit progression of certain cancers (among many other uses).  They have oil, concentrate, gum, e-liquids(for e-cigarettes), salves, and patches on the market.  I plan to test various oil-based products as well as e-liquids based on personal requirements and curiosities. 

Warning!  CBD isn't cheap.  In fact, pharmaceutical medications are waay cheaper.  I calculated the cheapest avenue I found available (for personal supplementation, not for formulation purposes) and it is quite literally 5 times more expensive than buying pure gold, by weight.

What I found with the oil:
Differing products are not equal.  In fact, when the FDA tested various CBD/hemp products, many that claimed to have a certain potency of CBD contained no cannabinoids at all!  Do your homework and maybe accept the fact that an unregulated item, like CBD-based products, do not have to comply with certain regulatory rules.  That being said, there is a component of trial-and-error with choosing a CBD product. 

Treating symptoms of schizophrenia:  I suffer from various symptoms like paranoia, delusions, dissociative states, etc.  I have been placed on many different medications over the years and nearly all failed to effectively treat all of the symptoms (risperidone being an exception, the only one).  I finally decided that enough was enough and sought after answers and alternative treatments.  Many documents indicate a therapeutic dosage that would cause this treatment's cost to skyrocket to at least $900/month.  I found that though it is more effective at higher dosages, 4mg/day seemed to work really well.  I initally tried taking 2 doses of 2mg/day (once in the morning, once in the evening), but found, through experimentation, that the more divided the dosing is, the more even and effective it becomes.  4 divided doses of 1mg each seemed to work.

Treating anxiety:  Against my prediction that therapeutic dosage of CBD to treat anxiety would be lower than the dosage effective in treating schizophrenia.  Maybe my physiology is simply strange- I responded very well to low levels of CBD for eliminating my paranoia (a symptom that seemed very treatment resistant across the board).  Moving along, I found that nearly twice the dosage effective for my schizophrenia symptoms was effective for my anxiety.

Keep in mind that I do take medications and supplements which potentially play a role in CBD oil's effectiveness.  It was so effective in treating my schizophrenia symptoms that I was able to remove Saphris from my combination.  I don't suggest stopping any medications like I did- you could have a severe reaction by doing that.  One last thing: as with taking any supplement or medication, start low and work you way up, because you can always take more of something, it's pretty damn hard to un-take something.